Gillian Jackson - The Accident

Joe really wanted to see her again and was pretty sure that she felt the same, yet he’d been embarrassed about asking for her phone number, feeling like a tongue-tied schoolboy. Their shared life-changing experience of the accident seemed to have created a bond between them, and now that they were both on their own, why shouldn’t they meet up as friends? He hoped that perhaps Hannah would like to go out to dinner with him one night; he missed such simple pleasures and thought that she probably did too. With the certainty that she was honest enough to say no if the idea didn’t appeal to her, he could only ask, but he rather hoped she would say yes.

The open day helped to fill in the weekend, pleasantly so, and Joe returned to work on Monday morning ready to focus on the growing pile of accounts on his desk. Before he made any great inroads into the day’s work, however, he was disturbed by a telephone call from DS Armstrong. Joe’s heart sank; he hadn’t heard from the detective for several weeks and assumed that no news was good news, so what did the man want now?

‘Good morning, Mr Parker. I need to update you on Mrs Pamela Parker’s circumstances.’ As ever, Armstrong’s speech sounded as if it was straight from a textbook. ‘After an incident at the women’s facility where she is being held, it has been necessary to move her to a secure psychiatric hospital.’

‘And can you tell me what this incident was?’ Joe asked.

‘The latest one, and there have been a few minor incidents of a similar ilk, was an attack on another detainee. Mrs Parker appears to have lost control and attacked this other woman quite ferociously, leaving her with serious injuries.’

Joe’s heart sank. ‘So how does this affect the trial? Will it still go ahead as planned?’ He’d been dreading the trial and giving evidence, evidence which he knew might actually support Pam’s claims that David had been an abusive husband.?

‘Ah, well.’ DS Armstrong cleared his throat. ‘It now appears that Mrs Armstrong may not be standing trial. Her solicitor has put forward a motion to have the charges dismissed due to her precarious mental health.’

‘And will that happen?’

‘It’s too early to say, but the judge has ordered a round of psychiatric evaluations and these things take time. The CPS still wishes to proceed with the charges, but of course the tests will have to be completed before any decision is made.’

‘So if the trial doesn’t go ahead will she just get away with it?’ Joe was horrified to think that David’s death might go unpunished.

‘I wouldn’t put it quite like that. If she is declared unfit to stand trial, at the very least she’ll be committed to some sort of psychiatric institution for treatment. I will keep you informed of any further developments and of course if I can help in any other way, please give me a call.’

After work, when Joe picked Liffey up from Phil and Helen’s, he shared with them what the detective had told him that morning.

‘My goodness me, she must be absolutely mad,’ Helen said, her husband nodding in agreement.

‘So will the trial be delayed?’ Phil asked.

‘It could even be cancelled,’ Joe told them. ‘DS Armstrong said that her solicitor is asking for the charges to be dismissed due to her failing mental health. I don’t know what to think to be quite honest. I was dreading the trial, but the thought of Pam getting away with his murder is too shocking to even contemplate. I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but it’s obviously going to drag on and on. These evaluations take time apparently. At the back of my mind is the thought that Pam could be faking this mental illness to avoid standing trial. What do you think?’

‘Oh, Joe, we don’t know her well enough to make that kind of judgement, but if she is faking it I shouldn’t think years in a mental institution will be a much better option than prison. And if she’s proving to be violent, she’ll be kept in some kind of secure facility surely, and who would want that for goodness knows how many years?’ Helen asked.

‘Perhaps you’re right. She’s going to be locked away whatever happens. I’ll just have to be patient and wait to see what these evaluations throw up.’

Joe took Liffey down to the meadow before going home to feed her. The weather was still holding and the earth was bone dry, the grass scorched and bleached of its usual cool green colour. He thought about the year behind him, the ferocious arctic weather which caused that fateful accident and changed so many lives; a cruel, indiscriminate ripple effect, stealing life, happiness and health from all of those involved. And the contrast now, from such fierce winter weather to one of the hottest summers he could remember, was incredible.

David came into his mind too, and the pain he’d added to Joe’s already broken world, but he was still his brother and Joe would never have wished him dead. He had decided not to share David’s letter with DS Armstrong. It seemed unnecessary now that Pamela looked unlikely to be standing trial, and Joe had decided the letter was something he wanted to cherish privately and keep to himself.

Sighing, Joe turned his face to the summer sun. How would the latter part of the year unfold? Surely, Joe thought, he’d been allotted more than his share of misery. Could there possibly be something good waiting for him around the corner?

Rosie wanted to hear all about Timmy’s Farm; she’d been disappointed at not being able to go to the open day, but work had taken priority. They were sitting in Hannah’s lounge enjoying a glass of wine and the peace and quiet of a Sunday afternoon. Hannah had taken her prosthesis off and swung her leg up onto the sofa, as she’d been cleaning all morning and now it was playing up. Rosie was probably one of the few people she felt comfortable enough with to do this.

‘It’s amazing, Rosie, they must have worked so hard to achieve all that in just a few months. Of course, their farm lends itself perfectly to such a project, the space is ideal and they’ve utilised all the outbuildings, it’s incredible. I had a brief chat to Cassie, but obviously she was busy — everyone wanted to congratulate her. I’d thought about volunteering in some way but honestly, what could I do with this leg?’

‘There’s plenty you could do! It won’t be all mucking out and grooming ponies you know, there’s bound to be paperwork, and your organisational skills are second to none. Give her a ring, or send an email — you might be exactly what they’re looking for.’

‘Do you think so? It’s just that when the twins go to uni it’s going to be so quiet around here. I don’t want to give myself time to sit and mope, and it’s such a worthwhile venture.’ Hannah was really dreading the day Mel and Sam would leave, a day which was drawing closer. It would have been bad enough if Mike was still with her but being alone was a scary prospect.

‘Well, you won’t know unless you ask,’ Rosie encouraged her. ‘Did the twins enjoy it?’

‘Oh yes, they were most impressed, everyone was. You know, I really couldn’t have gone if I hadn’t remembered the details of the accident. I’d been carrying around that awful dread that I’d somehow been to blame for the whole thing and it was getting to me.’

‘So they didn’t treat you like some kind of social pariah then?’ Rosie smiled, playfully mocking her friend.

‘No, not at all, I felt quite relaxed with Cassie, and I met Joe Parker in the tea tent too. I needed a sit down and the twins left me there for a while. We had quite a long chat. I suppose I feel more self-assured now that I know the whole thing wasn’t my fault, I’m a victim of a freak accident just the same as they are.’